Question about our back-to-back cruise

[MJDisFamCruisers]

We are doing our first back-to-back cruise in September on the Magic. We booked a GTY rate for both cruises and got our stateroom numbers today. We are in different cabins on each sailing. Has anyone done a back-to-back cruise before with different staterooms? What do you do with your luggage? We are doing a 12 hour excursion the last full day of the 1st sailing and are worried that our bags will not be ready for the 10:30pm pick up the night before. Do we have to get off the ship and pick up our luggage to take through customs and then turn back around again to check in? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[IrishEye]

You will get a letter in your stateroom the night before or 2 nights before as we did once, telling you to leave your bags in the room and your host will transfer them to your new room. You do check out of the first cruise then after your excursion will check in for your new cruise. If you are not going on and excursion the letter will tell you about either meeting (if low enough number of B2B'ers) or how to disembark and re-board. Talk to your stateroom host a day or two before and tell them you are doing back to back and you new room number, they will also tell you they will move your luggage.

 

[GPaLarry]

We did a B2B Med./WBTA over a year ago. We had the same stateroom for both that began and ended/started again in Barcelona. When we planned this adventure, we planned to see more of Barcelona on the changeover day. Yes, we got a letter the night before telling us to leave the ship and reenter/sign in anew. We left the ship about 9 am, saw more of the city, then came back to sign in around noon. You can stay with the group of other B2Bers, if you like, follow the letter's instructions, briefly leave the ship and then follow the leader back on in a matter of an hour or so. It is your choice to leave or not. When we signed in we were given the boarding group number of the group currently being called...easy, peasy. You shouldn't have any trouble during the switch. If you chose to reboard with the B2B group, you will find a nearly empty ship, which is great for photos and further exploration. Have a great time on the water mouse.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

Your steward will move your luggage. I would also recommend taking this time to do your laundry as there will be no one doing it and the machines will be open. Put a sign on it telling the staff that you’re a back to back cruiser and not to remove the clothes.

 

[MJDisFamCruisers]

You will get a letter in your stateroom the night before or 2 nights before as we did once, telling you to leave your bags in the room and your host will transfer them to your new room. You do check out of the first cruise then after your excursion will check in for your new cruise. If you are not going on and excursion the letter will tell you about either meeting (if low enough number of B2B'ers) or how to disembark and re-board. Talk to your stateroom host a day or two before and tell them you are doing back to back and you new room number, they will also tell you they will move your luggage.

Do we have to pack up the clothes on hangers in the closet? I thought I read somewhere that they will transfer the clothes on hangers over to the new room and have them hanging up in the closet of the new room. Not sure if this is true. We aren't doing an excursion on disembarkation day, we are just going to explore the port. The long excursion that we are doing is the day prior to disembarkation day. What about carry on bags? Thanks so much for your thoughts!

 

[Sytrace]

We are doing our first back-to-back cruise in September on the Magic. We booked a GTY rate for both cruises and got our stateroom numbers today. We are in different cabins on each sailing. Has anyone done a back-to-back cruise before with different staterooms? What do you do with your luggage? We are doing a 12 hour excursion the last full day of the 1st sailing and are worried that our bags will not be ready for the 10:30pm pick up the night before. Do we have to get off the ship and pick up our luggage to take through customs and then turn back around again to check in? Any help would be appreciated!

The first thing I would do would be to call DCL and see if they could keep you in the same cabin for both trips..so much easier. That being said, if they cannot do this, then pack your clothes and the cabin host will move them to the new cabin for you. You will leave the ship on the first leg, go down the escalator, thru customs and then right back up to the terminal to check in for your second leg. So be sure to bring travel documents, ID, Passports, etc. You will likely wait a short bit until you are permitted to board again before the new cruisers arrive for your second leg. You might want to bring entertainment or a book to keep you entertained in the lobby while you wait.
Have a great cruise!

 

[southerngirl528]

The first thing I would do would be to call DCL and see if they could keep you in the same cabin for both trips..so much easier.

That was my first thought too, Sytrace! I hope they can get the same room for both cruises. Sure would make everyone's life easier.

 

[Disneypeach]

Do we have to pack up the clothes on hangers in the closet? I thought I read somewhere that they will transfer the clothes on hangers over to the new room and have them hanging up in the closet of the new room. Not sure if this is true. We aren't doing an excursion on disembarkation day, we are just going to explore the port. The long excursion that we are doing is the day prior to disembarkation day. What about carry on bags? Thanks so much for your thoughts!

When I did a B2B with a cabin change my host told me to just leave my hanging clothes on the hangers and he would move them to the new cabin...I packed up all the other stuff in my suitcase which he also moved for me. Not sure if this is standard procedure or not but it sure was nice!

 

[CrawfordMomof3]

When I did a B2B with a cabin change my host told me to just leave my hanging clothes on the hangers and he would move them to the new cabin...I packed up all the other stuff in my suitcase which he also moved for me. Not sure if this is standard procedure or not but it sure was nice!

That is awesome service!

 

[MJDisFamCruisers]

The first thing I would do would be to call DCL and see if they could keep you in the same cabin for both trips..so much easier.

We booked GTY rates. When we booked they said that they would do their best to keep us in the same cabin, but we got our room assignments and we are in different rooms. I am going to call DCL to see if maybe they could change us into the same room, but I'm not sure they can do that since we booked GTY.

When I did a B2B with a cabin change my host told me to just leave my hanging clothes on the hangers and he would move them to the new cabin...I packed up all the other stuff in my suitcase which he also moved for me. Not sure if this is standard procedure or not but it sure was nice!

That's a relief! I hope they would be able to do this for us, would make it a little bit easier. Did you get a different stateroom host for the next cruise, or did you have the same one?

 

[TheMcNicols]

We were considering a B2B, having done several on Carnival, but weren't sure how it worked with Disney. Thanks for the info!.

 

[Sytrace]

We booked GTY rates. When we booked they said that they would do their best to keep us in the same cabin, but we got our room assignments and we are in different rooms. I am going to call DCL to see if maybe they could change us into the same room, but I'm not sure they can do that since we booked GTY.




That's a relief! I hope they would be able to do this for us, would make it a little bit easier. Did you get a different stateroom host for the next cruise, or did you have the same one?

If it was a VGT , IGT or OGT then they will not work with you on moving one of the cabins. GTY has a little more leeway and IF the cabin is available either way, they might be able to change it for you to stay in the one cabin as opposed to moving. It never hurts to ask if it is a GTY but not a GT.

 

[CrawfordMomof3]

Wow this gets confusing!

 

[southerngirl528]

Wow this gets confusing!

I was confused about the difference in these as well when I first saw these booking categories here, CrawfordMomof3. Here's a link to a really great thread that explains the difference:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/guarantee-status-vs-igt-ogt-vgt.2914256/

 

[Disneypeach]

We booked GTY rates. When we booked they said that they would do their best to keep us in the same cabin, but we got our room assignments and we are in different rooms. I am going to call DCL to see if maybe they could change us into the same room, but I'm not sure they can do that since we booked GTY.



That's a relief! I hope they would be able to do this for us, would make it a little bit easier. Did you get a different stateroom host for the next cruise, or did you have the same one?

I had a different one. They made it very easy.

 

[CrawfordMomof3]

I was confused about the difference in these as well when I first saw these booking categories here, CrawfordMomof3. Here's a link to a really great thread that explains the difference:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/guarantee-status-vs-igt-ogt-vgt.2914256/

Thank you!

 

[southerngirl528]

Thank you!

It will make a LOT more sense to you after reading the high points of that thread! For instance, I booked a FL resident Guaranteed Rate for a Cat. 5C (one of the higher non-concierge verandah categories. By higher, I don't mean highest deck, but price wise. Only 5B, 5A, 4E <can't believe that have that category now! >, 4D, 4C, 4C, 4B, 4A, ascending order, are higher before starting into concierge categories).

What my Gtd. 5C booking means is that I am GUARANTEED at least a Cat 5C. It might be a higher category (see my previous list), but I know I will have at least a 5C stateroom. The guaranteed rates are less pricey because you do NOT get to choose your stateroom. You have no real idea whether it will be forward, aft, midship, high or lower deck. The 5C designation helped me to narrow it down, but not a whole lot. LOL! I ended up doing an upgrade to concierge after booking and PIF (paid in full) date. First time for us, and a surprise for DH!

 

[DCLDVC1]

Do we have to pack up the clothes on hangers in the closet? I thought I read somewhere that they will transfer the clothes on hangers over to the new room and have them hanging up in the closet of the new room. Not sure if this is true. We aren't doing an excursion on disembarkation day, we are just going to explore the port. The long excursion that we are doing is the day prior to disembarkation day. What about carry on bags? Thanks so much for your thoughts!

Our hostess told us we could leave our clothes on the hangers and in the drawers and she would move everything for us. We decided to pack up the drawers but left our clothes on the hangers and everything was waiting for us in our new room.

 

[MJDisFamCruisers]

Update: Called DCL today and they were able to at least switch us to two cabins closer together, instead of different decks. They didn't have any same rooms that were available on both cruises, so they worked with us and were able to switch us to two cabins that are only 5 staterooms apart and they said that we will have the same room host/hostess for both cruises. I am happy that they were able to switch us, and they even mentioned the morning of the turn around cruise that we would be able to move our clothes in our closet right over to the other stateroom. So very relieved that we won't have to pack up the clothes too!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just my experience. B2B - different rooms for each. We received a letter telling us to have our bags ready for pick up (packed, nothing in drawers or on hangers) by 8:00 am on the turn around day. Place them outside door at that time (our room host was waiting and took them right away). The bags were delivered directly to our next room, and we had to unpack everything ourselves.